plus, for a limited time, a free multi-room dvr for 3 months. that's an overall savings of $240 dollars over six months. don't miss this unbeatable value 3 great services, for the price of 2. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v today. live, local, late-breaking. this is wbal 11 news. >> good afternoon, everyone. jennifer franciotti. the big story, and alert. overnight thunderstorm struck to our area. at we are under a flash flood watch. john collins is in the insta- weather center with a look at

the forecast. more rain? >> absolutely. last night was very noisy and the baltimore area. thunder and lightning. the storms were very intense. they were not severe because there was not a lot of wind, just a lot of rain and thunder and lightning. let's look at the radar back then starting at midnight. that is when the noise started. you can see what it looked like, bring intense storms in montgomery county, western howard county and southern cal county. i will advance it. the and the storms will keep rolling through. a lot of lightning with the storms. some torrential rains fell as well. as far as the rain totals, much of carroll county, the central portion of baltimore county, and in extreme northern howard county received anywhere from 2 inches to 3 inches of rain. up to 5 inches and sw carroll

county. there was an area in harford county that got up to 6 inches and intense thunderstorms. now that the flood watch is in effect for much of the area west of the day, starting at 2:00 this afternoon in anticipation of more heavy rain shower activity and thunderstorms between out it and tomorrow morning at about the same time. we will talk about this coming up in just a few minutes. >> thank you. baltimore county firefighters spent the morning battling two fires, both may be related to last night's storm. they arrived at almanza hilltop avenue before 4:00 this morning to find fully engulfed. there was extensive damage. the crews were not able to complete a full search of the area. -- hill top ave. and at the start street united methodist church off eastern avenue there was a fire as well. they received a call at 3:30 this morning.

it quickly spread. there were no reports of any injuries. baltimore city police continued to search for those responsible for vandalizing the southwest baltimore church. pastor cross says a church member discovered a rib screen and black spray paint on the building. he believes gangs are responsible. city police said the tagging is are not from gangs. pastor across believes vandalism may be connected to a funeral being held at at his church today for 21 year-old david it lumpkin ii, found shot to death on a 11 news saturday night -- david lumpkin iii. >> we are not scared. we are breathing with the family. >> he is disappointed in the vandalism. anyone to desecrate this house abortion is still welcome to join them on sunday. state health officials are getting ready to tackle the up

coming to a season. they are being forced to do so with a lot less money and resources than they would like. state budget cuts forcing counties to make drastic products -- drastic cuts in their budgets. howard county it is having to make layoffs. other statewide health services are expected to suffer. >> cancer screenings, addiction, tobacco, all that will be cut. you cannot do more with less. we are now doing less with less. but federal grants will be providing local governments with much of the money needed to handle flu vaccinations. gov. o'malley is feeling the pinch of a leaner state budget. like the state employees being furloughed, the governor has signed over 10 days of his salary to the state to make up a portion of the budget shortfall. the lieutenant governor brown, vice -- house speaker michael busch and senate president mike miller have all written similar

checks. they are encouraging fellow legislators to do the same spirit state delegate jon cardin has reimbursed baltimore city police to permit for the use of an helicopter, a police boat, and many officers to stage a proposal to his fiancee. $300 what the bill. police say the figure comes from their calculation of the hourly rate of the officers and the cost of fuel for vehicles. on august 7, police officers boarded the boat back to the couple was on hand pretended to search for contraband until he popped the question. he has since apologized, saying he should have used better judgment. coming up on 11 news, wild fire continues to spread across southern california. find out how fast it is spreading. michael vick returns to an nfl game. we will look at how the quarterback performed in his first preseason game with his new team. mega millions fever hits maryland.

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>> mourners continue to pay final respects to senator ted kennedy this afternoon. michelle france and has more outside the john f. kennedy

presidential library in boston. >> thousands of people turned out. also wide variety of groups represented. all mingling with members of the kennedy family and all still mourning the loss. before the doors of the john f. kennedy library reopened, the lines once again began to build. thousands waiting to pass by senator kennedy's flag draped casket, expressing a special interests and connection to the youngest of this famous political family. >> i think it is just one would say they are privileged family, but they still always remembered everyone. >> senator kennedy's daughter and her children greeted people as they waited and seemed to gain comfort in the outpouring of affection. for his sister jean, the sole survivor of joseph and rose

kennedy's children, the sense of loss was overwhelming. >> i am overcome with the outpouring. >> the liberal lion is credited with his ability to stir debate and at the same time earn the respect of rivals. linda proudly wears her kennedy campaign button. she was not always a kennedy fan. >> i watched him over the years. i said, it's unbelievable. he has done so much. for the entire country. >> many wonder now who will inspire the next generation, following the loss of nearly 50 years of experience in the senate as well as replacing in their hearts and minds. >> i am saddened. i don't know if it will ever be complete closure because i'm still waiting for him to give us another wonderful speech. >> if the public viewing will come to a close. tonight a private memorial will celebrate the senator's life. michele fraand >> what nbc covef

senator ted kennedy's funeral tomorrow beginning at 10:00 on wbal tv 1. michael vick returned to professional football last night with the philadelphia eagles. it was against the jacksonville jaguars. he will serve as backup quarterback to donovan mcnabb and you'll remember michael vick was behind rural dogfighting ring that landed in prison 18 months. to a thousand people have evacuated after a wild fire continues to go through residential neighborhoods in southern california. it is burning near los angeles. it broke out last night and grew to 75 acres, damaging three homes. the fire is moving into a hard to reach area where the breast is dense and dry.

if there's no word on what started the fire in the first place. or when the fire crews are expected to get a handle on it. still ahead, children get ready to go back to school, many parents look to stock up on cheap school supplies. if we will show you the best place to buy some of these supplies. as we approached colds and flu season, officials began to worry about the potential outbreak of the h1n1 virus. we will look inside the cdc as it prepares for the worst. that is later in our medical alert. >> as of last night was not enough, more stormy weather is an afternoon and night time forecast. details in just a moment. cloudy skies in baltimore. towers and thunderstorms

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says 5.7% of japanese workforce was out of court in july. if that is more than in june. the labor department in japan's of the government will take steps to improve the unemployment picture. all this comes a couple of days before the general election in japan. while some children have a already gone back to school, some kids still have a few more days of precipitation left. even though parents dread back- to-school shopping, we are looking at how the supplies stacked up at the cash register at popular stores. guek notebooks, pencils. >> pencil sharpeners. >> backpack. >> almost everything. >> every child has a list, but the return to class does not come cheap. finding the best prices can be a tough assignment. >> 12-inch ruler. >> our producer and i did some of the homework for you.

>> a ruler. crayons. >> we put together a list of 15 items for a typical grade school child. everything from pensions and glue to folders and paper. the democrats dollar shopping carts and it a discount store. we went to target and an office supply store called staples. then for the drugstore we picked walgreens. we were looking for bargains cancel the shoppers be met. >> we're finding a lot of good sales. we have been going to different places. >> @ hege storey schaub for similar supplies and similar sizes. in some cases we even found the identical product. after checking out, we are done with a target. then we did some checking out of our own. >> three of them. >> look at some of the differences in prices with similar products. elmer's glue, same size, 99

cents @ walgreens. 79 cents at staples. 25 cents at target. 24 crayola crayons, $1.99 @ walgreens. 89 cents at staples. 25 cents at target. child scissors, $2.99 @ walgreens. $1.99 at staples. 82 cents at target. elmer's glue stick, 199 at walgreens. $1.49 at staples. 45 cents at target. after we added it all the, target was only $15.43, about half what we paid at walgreens for the same things. do comparison shopping and don't forget to keep in mind what is on your child's mind. >> with the best part about going back to school? >> meeting new people. >> what's the worst part? >> walmart. guek the best part for me is you

don't have all worked in the first week. >> you get to meet your friends again. xbox or esparta? >> you have to learn. liz crenshaw reporting for nbc news. >> now your forecast with john collins. >> thunderstorms beginning to crank up again. doppler radar shows this hour activity, pretty good rain along the chesapeake bay and harford county down to the inner harbor to the east and southeast of the inner harbor. a little thundershower in glen burnie. heavy thunderstorms south of the district of columbia. centered around clinton. prince george's county has a thunderstorm warning in effect through 1:00. this is producing a lightening strikes. 60 or 70 of them in the last hour. in denton there is thunder shower activity and thunderstorms. more activity will blossom in the afternoon. the tropical air is just waiting

for an excuse to produce some rain. we could see the kind of stuff we had last night. temperatures have not moved much. we have not seen much sunshine break through the clouds. 75 at the airport, 76 in annapolis, 75 in middle river, 77 in stevensville. 77 at westminster. there is storm activity in bg county -- pg county. in cape maine, new jersey there are storms. strong storms in the atlantic ocean and around pittsburgh. now we're looking at danny. it's having a hard time getting its act together. it does not look much of a tropical storm. the storm is on the west side of this thing. most of the potomac devotee is to the east. -- most of the thunderstorm activity is to the east.

danny is headed to the coast. there will be high surf as it passes by the coast. also, rip currents. dangerous rip current, the same as last year. it is helping contribute to the tropical environment we have in the southeast u.s. . the stalled front sitting over us. it will trickle further north today. plenty of opportunities for strong and the storms and heavy rain. danny is 567 miles from ocean city. it drives to the north right now. it is expected to be off the mid-atlantic coast off with 45 mile an hour winds tomorrow afternoon. then it may cross over cape cod. as a tropical storm. then it will will out over the north atlantic, but still loading tropical storm force winds as it moves through the north atlantic. today we are expecting scattered showers and then destroy an activity. there could be heavy storms. mostly cloudy. up to 83 degrees.

southeast wind at 6 to 12 miles an hour. 84 degrees tomorrow. still a chance of rain. it starts going down. a better chance of sunshine. the chance of raindrops to almost nothing on sunday. high of 84. in the 70's next week with lower humidity and plenty of sunshine. that will be a break. >> thank you. in medical news, concerned about the h1n1 virus as they continue to grow as we approach the cold and flu season. our chief science correspondent for nbc takes us to the cdc's for behind-the-scenes looks at how they're trying to prevent the outbreak. >> reports are going out to 24 hours a day. >> good morning. >> some are rumors of new outbreaks. some are reports of small events. >> where is it coming from? >> officials say a major defense against the wind blew it constant surveillance. scientists are keenly aware that

this is the first pandemic in history that they have been able to observe almost in real-time. with the new virus, the concerns are where is its striking, how severe is the disease, what are the strains on the local medical system, and is the virus changing? >> the cdt labs, 2000 staff members -- 2000 samples arrive every month or extensive genetic and structural analysis, human and animal. >> it is the disease center project is is an assistant lab director. dr michael shaw. >> this is extremely different, this particular combination of genes has never been seen in humans or animals ever before. >> there is some good news so far. the virus, as it spreads throughout the world, it is changing very little. that means it should continue to cause mostly moderate or mild disease.

the vaccine being developed right now against it should work well. it is still treatable with the antiviral drugs tamiflu and relenza. the lab studies show the virus spreads more by touch and not so much through the air like seasonal flu or the common cold. >> but the flu is subject to change unexpectedly. we have to be alert for something that might change that picture. >> it is the risk of change that worries scientists most. nbc news reporting from atlanta. >> next we have your maryland lottery numbers. we will get another check on the insta-weather plus forecast with john. first, this is how wall street is performing at this hour. stay with us. stay with us.

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ravens games for life and so much more. >> mdlotter.com/ravens. -- mdlottery.com/ravens. >> your pick 4 numbers are on the screen. the maryland lottery, let yourself play. >> we have a lot to look forward to another department. >> we have done the storms to our south. a warning for prince george county till 1:00. our forecast calls for a good chance of rain for this afternoon and tonight especially. it will start tapering off tomorrow. especially in the morning we

have some rain on saturday. by sunday it should be ending. it ready for squalls in ocean city tomorrow morning. next week looks great. >> that's bad for folks in ocean city. two weekends in a row. >> that's true. >> be sure to watch tonight 11 news at 5:00. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- --www.ncicap.org--

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